Short-notice replacement John Alessio says things will be different at UFC 145

Sunday was April Fool’s Day, and John Alessio had tweeted that he was retiring.

When Monday rolled around and UFC matchmaker Joe Silva emailed him with a short-notice fight – six years after he last set foot in the octagon – Alessio thought the joker’s holiday had been extended in the cruelest way.

It was no joke. An injured Matt Wiman was out at UFC 145. Did he want in against Mark Bocek?

Of course he did. Alessio then called his wife to tell her the news. Then he shut up. Order No. 1 from the promotion was to tell nobody of the news until they announced it.

But Bocek gave it up on Twitter, and Alessio was suddenly playing dumb as training partners called to congratulate him. Messages continued rolling into his phone and Twitter account.

Now that the cat’s out of the bag, Alessio (34-14 MMA, 0-3 UFC) and Bocek (10-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) are expected to meet on UFC 145’s pay-per-view main card, which takes place April 21 at Philips Arena in Atlanta. (Preliminary-card fights air on FX and stream on Facebook.)

“It was kind of emotionally crazy,” Alessio told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) of life since Monday. “Once I got that phone call, it was time to switch gears and get going.”

Over the past year or so, Alessio’s manager had a working agreement with Silva about the possibility of getting back into the UFC, where he’d dreamed of making a return since leaving the promotion in 2006 with a 0-3 record over three stints. He was told the way a return was most likely happening was if someone got injured or had to withdraw, and if they needed someone short-notice.

There was an offer on the table this past March, but he was already committed to fight overseas. He then lost, and another delay seemed inevitable.

But things change on a dime when the injury bug strikes, and Alessio, who made his professional debut in 1998 at age 19, had gone on to notch three consecutive victories in regional competition, the most recent of which came three weeks ago. He was in shape and ready to go, just as his manager told him to do in case the big show called.

The offer actually nixed another contract Alessio was about to sign as part of a long-rumored winner-take-all MMA event titled, The World Series of MMA, slated to begin this summer.

“Deep down inside I was really hoping the UFC would call me,” said Alessio, who’s 10-1 over his past 11 fights. “It’s been surreal, almost like it’s not happening and I need somebody to wake me up out of this dream. But I’m focused. I’m back in the gym training hard.”

Alessio, now 32, hasn’t fared well inside the octagon thus far. But as he points out, he hasn’t been given any easy fights. His 10th pro fight was against then-dominant champion Pat Miletich at UFC 26. Six years later, he met the undefeated Diego Sanchez at UFC 60, and then Thiago Alves at “Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3: The Final Chapter.” There have been no warm-ups.

In the now-defunct WEC, he had a respectable 4-2 record with a loss to current UFC interim welterweight champ Carlos Condit. But it seemed like something wasn’t clicking inside the octagon.

Alessio has fought 21 times since his most recent bout in the UFC and, of course, feels things will be different this time around.

“I’m much more mature, I’m much more ready mentally, and I’m in a better place in my life,” he said. “And, of course, I’ve developed as a fighter. I feel like this is my time now.”

The UFC has obviously changed since his last appearance. But he’s confident he won’t feel a newcomer’s rush of adrenaline.

“I’ve got tons of experience in fights, so I really don’t see the UFC shocking me too much other than being excited and pumped up,” Alessio said. [Bocek] wants to do jiu-jitsu. He wants to take me down and grapple me. And I feel like I’m the better striker.”

But even if he comes up short, Alessio doesn’t feel the fight is a make-or-break for his career. He’s fought most of his career outside the UFC, and he’ll continue to do so if that’s what life has in store.

“I’m a born fighter,” he said. “I’m a mixed martial artist, and I always will be. The UFC is just the biggest and the best stage in the world to compete on, and it just took me a long time to get back.